Apparel-pad.



, Patented Apr; 30, I90l. L. BOUCHAT.

APPAREL PAD.

:Application filed Jan. 10, 1901.)

No. 673,33l.

(No Model.)

THE nonms PETERS co wnoruumou WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS BOUOHAT, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN COAT PAD COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF SAME PLACE.

APPAREL-PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673.331, dated April 30, 1901. Application filed January 10,1901- Serial No. 42,792. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, LoUIs BOUCHAT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparel-Pads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparel-pads, and particularly to shoulder-pads.

The pads now in use are generally composed of felt or some fleecy material. With such material the pad when it is inserted into the garment and moistened or steamed and then pressed with a hot iron absorbs the moisture and upon drying is rendered stiff, hard, and compact, thus losing its elasticity, pliability, and that soft and fluffy state which it is highly desirable that the pad should retain.

The object of my invention is to prevent this hardening and compression of the pad and to retain practically its original shape and its original condition of pliability and elasticity after steaming or moistening and pressing.

To this end the invention consists of a pad composed mainly of the usual felt or fleecy material or similar substance provided with a cushion or filling of an elastic non-absorbent material. This cushion or filling may consist of curled hair, fiber, or similar material; but the substance I prefer to use is a species of sea-moss which has a natural curl and is practically non-absorbent and forms when in a mass an elastic body. This material may be inserted into the body of the pad between two sections of the same or may be placed on one surface and held in place by a suitable cover. The efiect of this elastic non-absorbent cushion or filling is to prevent the stifiening and compression of the fleecy or felt part of the pad due to the moistening and pressing from destroying the proper shape and resiliency of the pad. I

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pad to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2, a sectional view on the line a; 00 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a section on the line y y of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A is the body of the pad, which is composed, preferably, of fleecy material. The pad shown in the drawings has a thickened portion B of uniform thickness formed near its inner edge. From this thickened portion the pad tapers down to the ends. The thickened portion is for the purpose of filling in the shoulder properly and may be either midway between the ends of the pad or nearer one end than the other, according to the shape of the shoulder and the part thereof it is necessary to fill out for a partioular garment and its wearer. In my invention the cushion or filling is placed in the pad at the enlarged or thickened portion between two sections of the pad. If so desired, however, the filling may extend throughout the body of the pad. This cushion or filling 0 consists of a loose body of sea-moss; but other suitable material may be used. When in place in the pad, it forms an elastic non-absorbent body which will retain the pliability and elasticity of the pad even after the fleecy material has been moistened and pressed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a pad having its body portion composed of fleecy or felt material, a permanently elastic non-absorbent filling in said pad-body, substantially as described.

2. In a pad having its body portion composed of fleecy or felt material and having a thickened portion, a non-absorbent and permanently loose elastic body of material in said pad at the thickened portion thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS BOUCHAT.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. MILLIKIN, SADIE C. REINHARD. 

